


Solangelo and the Phantoms

by obsessingovereverything



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV), Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Group hugs are my lifeblood, Hades is Trying, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:01:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28957620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obsessingovereverything/pseuds/obsessingovereverything
Summary: While on a mission for Hades, Nico and Will encounter a familiar ghost band*****aka the Solangelo meets the Phantoms fic that no one asked for
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 2
Kudos: 84





	Solangelo and the Phantoms

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know how many people were looking for a PJO x JATP fic, but for those of you who were, here you go! I just had this idea and went with it. I honestly wrote this mainly for fun, so I hope everyone enjoys!

“Why do we have to be here again?” Nico crossed his arms, looking around the venue with a huff. He caught the eye of Will Solace, who was standing right next to him with an amused smile.

“Your dad is the one who sent you the tickets, so I should be the one asking you that.”  
“I just don’t get it!” Nico huffed, “Why would my dad give me tickets to a concert? I didn’t even think he liked music! If anything, it seems more like something Apollo would do.”

“My dad does like music,” Will said thoughtfully.

“Oh, shut up,” Nico grumbled, lightly pushing Will’s shoulder as the blonde laughed.

“Okay, okay,” Will said, catching his breath. “How about we make a deal? You stop complaining about your dad, and next time we go on a date, you can shadow travel us wherever you want.”

The slightest hint of excitement crept onto Nico’s face. Crap. Will knew him too well. “Does this concert really mean that much to you?”

Will shrugged, putting his arm around Nico. “Must be a child of Apollo thing. Wouldn’t want him to hit me with some singing curse because I willingly skipped a musical event.”

Nico raised an eyebrow. “You say that like it’s happened before.”

“Not to me. But if you want to know more, you can ask one of my siblings...” 

“You’re ridiculous,” Nico replied, giving his boyfriend a fond eye roll.

“Maybe,” Will said. “But you still love me.”

Nico didn’t respond. The blush coloring his cheeks was answer enough. Will squeezed his hand in acknowledgment, before turning his attention to the stage. Nico studied Will’s profile- his easy grin, sparkle in his light blue eyes, his tousled blond curls- and felt a warm sensation in his stomach. He supposed he could let his guard down (only slightly) for one night. For Will. Of course, just when Nico was feeling comfortable, that’s when the feeling hit. He felt a slight tugging in his gut, and a cold wave of death washed over him. That could only mean one thing: there was a ghost nearby.

Nico stiffened, trying to sense where the ghost was. He tried to be subtle about it, but Will was no fool. Curse his stupidly observant boyfriend.

“Nico? You okay?” Will asked. “If you’re really that uncomfortable we can leave.”

“No, it’s not that,” Nico said, shaking his head vehemently. “I think I feel the presence of a ghost.”

He lowered his voice when he mentioned the presence of a spirit. Will frowned, looking around the room. After a moment of silence, Will spoke up.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yeah. I am.”

“Well, I trust your instincts. Let’s go check it out.”

The two boys left the spot where they were standing in search of a quieter area where they could talk. That was proven difficult though, as the venue was quickly filling up with excited concertgoers. Finally, they found an empty dressing room behind the stage. The two of them hurried inside, locking the door behind them.

“You know,” Will started. “You and I have done a lot of things together, but I think this is the first time we’re hunting down a ghost together.”

“You say that like it’s some type of milestone,” Nico replied. “Next thing I know, it’s going to be put in some scrapbook in between first kiss and first time in the Underworld.”

“Aw, man. You busted me,” Will smiled. The scary thing was, Nico couldn’t tell if he was lying. He wouldn’t be surprised if Will had some cheesy relationship scrapbook hidden somewhere in Cabin 7. The thought made skeletal butterflies rise in his chest, but he didn’t have time for that right now.

“So. Ghosts,” Nico said, expertly changing the subject.

“Yes. Ghosts,” Will repeated. He walked over to a makeup table and began playing with a discarded tube of lipstick. “How do you usually track down ghosts? Do you just call out to them or something?”

“Something like that. I can feel the presence of ghosts depending on how strong the death vibe of a place is. The stronger the vibe, the better I can communicate and keep them at bay. This place is fairly new. There aren’t any strong death vibes. And yet…”

Nico trailed off, too lost in thought to finish his sentence. This whole thing was so weird, and he wasn’t in the mood to solve another mystery. At least he got an answer to one of his questions. His dad sent him here to track down some ghost.

The two boys were silent, taking a moment to gather their thoughts. At last, Will spoke up.

“When you find ghosts, do you usually find them in the places they died?”

“Ghosts are restless spirits, meaning that their souls are trapped in the places where they died.”

“I’m going to take that as a yes. Do those places usually have strong death vibes?”

“Yeah…” Nico said tentatively, before allowing Will to continue.

“Well, you said this place wasn’t giving you a strong death vibe. Maybe that’s why you’re having trouble tracking the ghost- because this isn’t the place where it died.”

Nico took a moment to consider this. Most ghosts haunt the place where they died, but what Will was suggesting wasn’t impossible. Sometimes, if a ghost’s essence wasn’t tied to the place where they died, they could travel, choosing to haunt other places instead. “I think you might be onto something.”

Will beamed, proud that he was able to help his boyfriend out. At that moment, Nico heard a low voice in his mind. He couldn’t tell what the voice was saying, but it seemed to be calling out to him.

“Are you okay?” Will asked as Nico walked towards one of the walls of the dressing room.

“Yeah. I think I hear something,” he whispered.

“Is it the ghost?”

Nico didn’t answer. He was much too focused on trying to decipher the voice that was just calling out to him. He pressed his ear against the wall and squeezed his eyes shut in concentration, attempting to make out what the voice was saying.

He heard a variety of faint noises on the other side of the wall, but nothing that sounded like the voice in his head. In fact, the only other voice he heard was a female who seemed to be talking to herself. Just when he was about to give up, he heard it. That indistinct voice in the back of his mind. As soon as his brain registered the voice, he felt a familiar tugging in his gut. This could only mean one thing: he found the ghost.

What he didn’t expect though, was for the muffled ghost voice to get louder. While it was still too quiet for him to make out what the voice was saying, it was strong enough for him to deduce that he wasn't going to be dealing with just one ghost. He was going to be dealing with multiple. Nico waited another moment before pulling away from the wall and relaying this information to Will.

“Wait a second,” Will began. “You said that girl seemed like she was talking to herself, and that there were ghosts in the room. What if she was talking to the ghosts? What if she can see the ghosts? Does that make her a child of the Underworld?”

“No,” Nico shook his head. “If there was a child of the Underworld, I’d be able to feel it. Like with Hazel. She might be a clear-sighted mortal.”

“Rachel’s clear-sighted,” Will countered. “And last I checked, she can’t talk to ghosts.”

“You do have a point,” Nico replied. He made his way over to the dressing room door and gestured at Will to follow. “Come on. We’re not going to get answers just standing here.”

Just like before, Nico and Will moved quietly to the dressing room next door. Unlike the one they were just hiding in, this one was currently being used. There was a sign taped up on the door that said “Julie and the Phantoms,” so Nico would have to make this interrogation quick or risk being kicked out of the venue by the band for seeming crazy. Hopefully, if it came to that, the Mist would help him out, but the veil between worlds was not always known to be reliable.

Will stepped off to the side, holding his hands out towards Nico as if he were presenting an art project. “Okay. We’re here now. Do your thing, Death Boy.”

Nico had summoned ghosts before, but never with Will there. Gods, he hoped he didn’t look stupid. Focus, di Angelo, Nico internally scolded himself. The ghostly presence was stronger than it had ever been, and here he was worrying if his boyfriend thought he looked stupid. Shaking these thoughts out of his mind, he pulled out his Stygian Iron sword, and began calling out to the ghosts.

“Oh, restless spirits. Hear my call. I do not mean any harm. I am only here to talk. The only thing I ask for is respect. I respect the dead, so I ask for respect in return. Come out to talk. Don’t make me use force. You will regret it, for I am the GHOST KING!”

As soon as Nico said that, it was as if a fog that had been hanging over his brain lifted. He could hear the ghosts more clearly, now able to make out that there were three of them, and that they were all boys. Using one last burst of power, he willed them to manifest.

The three ghosts were engaged of a conversation that Nico only caught the tail end of:

“Don’t worry, no one can summon us!” said a guy wearing a beanie. “Didn’t you say Carlos tried to do it one time with a sandwich?”

“Ah, French Dip,” another one said dreamily.

“But this guy sounds really dangerous! Like Caleb-level scary!” the final one retorted anxiously.

“Hey guys?” the French Dip Dude interjected. “Do you feel that? It’s like, a weird tugging sensation.”

“Never say the words ‘weird tugging sensation’ again,” said the anxious one. “But now that you say something...”

At that, the boys had finished manifesting. Nico could see the three of them clearly, though they were too wrapped up in their own conversation to notice him there. He decided to have a little fun.

“Hello, boys,” Nico said with a smirk while leaning on his sword as if it were a cane.

“AHHHH!” the ghosts screamed, grabbing onto each other blindly. The looked like they had just seen a ghost. Nico chuckled at the irony.

“Don’t scare them,” Will chided. At some point, he had walked over to where Nico was standing. “They look completely harmless.”

“Sometimes the deadliest things look completely harmless.”

“When has that ever been true?”

“You’ve met Hazel,” Nico replied. He was so into their familiar banter, that he glossed over an important fact. “Wait. You can see them?”

“Yeah,” Will said. “Do people not normally see ghosts after you call upon them?”

“Whoa, okay, you guys need to back up the conversation!” said the beanie ghost. “Who are you? Why can you see us? Do you usually go around summoning unsuspecting ghosts?”

“And you say I’m the one who asks a lot of questions,” muttered the anxious one. He was the tallest one out of the three, but he was cowering behind the other two.

“You don’t... know who I am?” Nico faltered.

“Should we?” Beanie Boy answered. “Do you know who we are?”

“Should I?” Nico deadpanned.

“We’re the Phantoms! From Julie and the Phantoms!”

“Tell your friends!” French Dip Dude chimed in. “I’m Reggie.”

“I’m Luke,” said Beanie Boy. “And that’s Alex.”

“Hey,” Alex said shakily, waving slightly.

“Julie and the Phantoms?” Will asked. “Isn’t that the band playing tonight?”

“Yes we are!” Luke said eagerly. Nico had the opposite reaction.

“Uggggggh,” he groaned, running a hand through his hair. “I told you my dad wouldn’t just give us tickets to a concert for no reason.”

Will shook his head, as if he couldn’t believe Nico was still going on about that.

“We answered your question,” Alex piped up. “You answer ours. Who are you? And why should we care who your dad is?”

Nico winced at that, knowing that this small comment would probably send Hades on an annoying tirade later. “I am the Ghost King.”

Reggie stepped forward. “That’s totally cool. You do you. But we mean, what’s your actual name. But for a nickname? Ghost King is so badass. Luke, Alex, give me a cool ghost nickname.”

“How about King-Of-Getting-On-My-Nerves?” Alex quipped. Nico had to bite back a chuckle. That reminded him of how unnecessarily and infuriatingly sarcastic some of his friends could be.

“I’m Nico,” he cut in. “Nico di Angelo.”

“And I’m Will,” Will chimed in. “Sorry about Lord Darkness over here. He’s actually a total softie. Don’t let this dark exterior fool you.”

“Solace!” Nico hissed.

“Sorry,” Will answered, but the smile on his face said otherwise. The ghosts also appeared to be less scared, probably because they came to the conclusion that anyone who was approved by a literal ray of sunshine couldn’t be that bad.

Nico paused before continuing. “You really don’t know who I am?”

The phantoms shook their heads no. Will gave Nico a look that said ‘Go easy on them’. Nico sighed.

“Do you guys know anything about Greek mythology?”

“Like Hercules and stuff?” Luke asked.

“Dude, there’s more to Greek mythology than just Hercules,” Alex said. “There’s also the gods, and a whole bunch of mythological heroes.” Nico gave a slight smile. These ghosts had no idea.

“Well, what if I were to tell you that all those myths and heroes and gods were real?”

“I would say you’re crazy,” Reggie said. “But then I became a ghost, so nothing’s really crazy to me anymore.”

“Huh. This is going to be easier than I thought,” Nico said, surprised. “Long story short, the Greek gods still exist today. They have kids with mortals called demigods.”

The boys exchanged a wary look, before Luke spoke up. “So let me get this straight. You’re telling us that the two of you are the children of Greek Gods?”

“Pretty much,” Will nodded. “My dad is Apollo, god of the sun, music, healing, and... a bunch of other stuff.”

“And my father is Hades, Lord of the Dead.”

Alex blinked. “I’m sorry. I blacked out for a minute. Last thing I heard is your dad is the god of death!”

“Don’t need to act so surprised,” Nico grumbled.

“Okay,” Will cut in, stretching out the syllables. “How about we get back to figuring out why your dad sent us here.”

“Usually he sends me on these jobs to dispel restless spirits-“

“I don’t want to be dispelled!” Reggie interrupted. “I like it here. There’s pizza. And girls.”

“And boys,” he added after being shoved by Alex.

“As I was saying,” Nico gritted his teeth and glared at Reggie, “You guys don’t feel like those other ones. Those feel like darkness and regret, and go around trying to spread it to the living. I feel a little regret in you guys, but that’s probably just normal unfinished business. Other than that, I’m getting a lot of love and light. You guys help maintain a balance between the good and the bad spirits. My dad is all about balance, so I don’t think he would want me to take that away.”

“Aww, I think that’s his way of saying he likes us,” Reggie smiled.

Nico’s glare hardened. Will grabbed his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

“C’mon, Death Boy,” Will chided. “Lighten up a little.”

“Easy for you to say,” Nico responded, rolling his eyes.

Reggie and Luke seemed to be largely at ease, but Alex still looked anxious. Nico got the feeling that that was Alex’s default setting. The blonde darted his eyes around the room before speaking up. “Okay, so if you’re not here to be some sort of magical ghostbuster, why are you here?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Nico replied before turning to Will. “Also, what’s a ghostbuster? Is that another one of your weird movie things?”

“Star Wars is not some weird movie thing!” Will whined.

“You like Star Wars? I do too!” Reggie piped up.

“Really?” Will brightened. “What did you think of-“

“You guys can geek out later,” Nico interjected, placing a hand on Will’s shoulder. “My dad doesn’t always send me to dispel spirits. Sometimes he sends me out on quests to retrieve information from ghosts,” 

“But we’re just a band that can be seen by everyone when we play with Julie. No important information there,” Reggie said.

“Is Julie the girl who was just in here?” Will asked the ghosts.

“Were you guys spying on us?” Alex squeaked.

“Uhhh…” Will looked like a deer in headlights. He glanced at Nico, silently begging for some help.

“No. Part of my powers is that I can sense ghosts. I heard you guys talking, and used my powers to track you guys. It just so happened that you were talking to Julie while I was doing my thing.”

“Cool. Cool,” Alex said. “Kind of creepy, considering I’m a ghost, but cool.”

A defensive look graced Luke’s face. “Do you think that’s what your dad wants? To capture us ‘cause we’re some amazing ghost band?”

“Dude, are you trying to say you think Hades is like Caleb?”

Caleb. There was that name again. Nico didn’t think much of it when he first heard these boys say it, but now he was starting to get some sort of idea about why he was here.

“Who is Caleb?”

“Oh, Caleb is just some ghost who owns a club where lifers can go to witness ghosts being, well ghosts,” Reggie answered.

“He also owns the souls of like, tons of other ghosts,” Alex added. “He owned our souls for a while too.”

“Until Julie saved us,” Luke finished. “I don’t care who your dad is. As long as we have Julie, we’re never going to belong to anyone.”

“As touching as that all was, I told you. My dad likes to maintain balance. I think I know why he sent us here.”

“I knew you’d figure it out,” Will said, putting an arm around Nico. Nico leaned into the touch slightly before remembering that there were three ghosts watching them. To his luck, these ghosts were wearing shit-eating grins.

“Feel free to continue doing whatever you are doing. We see this stuff all the time with Alex and his ghost boyfriend.”  
“Luke!” Alex hissed, face reddening, “Willie is not my boyfriend!”

“You keep telling yourself that,” Reggie replied, patting Alex’s shoulder.

Nico raised an eyebrow, more so thinking about just how much these boys reminded him of the way, say, Percy and Leo acted.

“So!” Alex said, clearing his throat. His face still had remnants of a blush. “You said your dad likes to maintain balance?”

Nico nodded. “You guys are maintaining balance. Caleb is the one upsetting the natural order of things by withholding souls from the Underworld. I’m not sure how long my dad has known about him, but if you guys were able to find and escape him, he probably thought that you would be the best sources of information.”

Everyone was quiet for a minute, taking in what Nico had just said. At last, Luke spoke up.

“Are you saying that your dad can take down Caleb?” The hope in the eyes of all three boys was apparent.

“Yeah,” Nico said confidently. Hades has always been morally gray, but lately he has genuinely been trying to be a better father. Somehow, Nico just knew that this is what his dad was going to do.

The ghosts didn’t know how to react. They all started talking over each other at once, before Alex said loudly, “I think this calls for a group hug!”

Luke and Reggie moved in, before gesturing at Nico and Will to join in.

“I don’t do hugs,” Nico muttered as Will pushed him into the circle. Nico didn’t know what to expect. In general, he was not a very touchy person, with Will and Hazel quite possibly being the only exceptions to that rule. However, he had never tried to touch a ghost like this before, not even Bianca. When pushed into the circle, he thought he was going to pass through the boys, but they were surprisingly solid. Nico was unsure how long they all stayed in the embrace, but a knock on the dressing room door startled their contented silence.

“Oh shoot, that’s probably Julie,” Luke said. “It must be time to go on. Are you guys going to stay for the show?”

Will looked at Nico, who gave a half hearted sigh. “I suppose we can.”

“Cool! We’ll see you in the audience then!” Reggie said. “And Will, don’t think I forgot about our Star Wars conversation!”

“How could I?” He replied with his signature sun-melting grin.

“You guys are the worst,” Alex sighed.

“Tell me about it,” Nico agreed.

“As lovely as it is that everyone is getting along, we have show to put on,” Luke said. “Get ready for the best concert of your life.”

With that, the three ghosts poofed out of the dressing room, leaving Will and Nico alone once more.

“I’m happy we finished that mission for your dad,” Will said, taking Nico’s hand. “Now we can just relax and enjoy the show.”

“Can we stay here for another second?” Nico asked. “Once we leave, it’s going to be so loud and busy. Big crowds aren’t exactly my thing.”

“Of course,” Will responded. The two demigods sat, Will rubbing his thumb across Nico’s knuckles.

“You know,” Will started, “Even though your dad sent us here to get information about Caleb, I think he had another reason for sending us.”

“And what would that be?”

“I think he sent us here to make some new friends.”

Nico laughed. “That is the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever said.”

“Is it? You know your dad is trying to be better. Didn’t he once give you a zombie chauffeur? What’s the difference between that and some ghost friends?”

Nico wanted to protest, but he could see Will’s point. Having them come to this concert is like.... the equivalent of Hades setting him up on a play date. The thought itself was kind of embarrassing, but even more so was the fact that it actually kind of worked.

“I guess... I do kind of like them,” he begrudgingly admitted.

“Was that hard to say?” Will teased.

“I will shadow travel out of here right now.”

“No you won’t.”

“No, I won’t.”

Outside of the room, the opening chords to a song sounded. Will, seeming to remember where they were and why, stood up, still holding Nico’s hand.

“Come on. We have some friends to cheer on.”

The two of them headed out into the audience, ready to make some new memories, and see what the future had in store for them and their new friends.


End file.
